Louder Than Words
by ABlueIndividual
Summary: Eric meets Ariel without realising who she is, and his thoughts are explored as he quickly begins to fall in love with her.
1. Chapter 1

**Louder Than Words**

"Eric, dear, where are you going?"

Eric turned away from the doorway to see Carlotta, standing at the other end of the palace's entrance hall, rubbing a dish with a cloth and looking at him concernedly.

"Just down to the sea," replied Eric, wondering why Carlotta seemed so fretful. She looked further skeptical upon receiving the answer.

"You're not going to look for your mystery girl again, are you?" she asked, with an eyebrow raised, but otherwise her face and tone both implied she was more worried than annoyed.

"Oh, no, I'm not right now, don't worry," Eric answered as he shook his head, now understanding what he should have guessed immediately, "I'm taking Max down there for a while." He patted his panting sheepdog on the head.

Carlotta relaxed a little, "Well okay, honey. Just promise me you'll try and relax, and don't go wandering off looking for her."

"I promise," agreed Eric, smiling and nodding a little, "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Goodbye, Eric," smiled Carlotta, waving before she set off back to the kitchen to help Chef Louis.

Eric turned and started making his way down to the shore, with Max bounding down the steps ahead of him. When the dog reached the bottom, he immediately made himself busy running around and sniffing for nothing in particular. Eric followed him until they reached a point where the sand met the sea, where Max continued to examine the area. Eric smiled fondly at his playful pet, and leant back against a rock by the castle wall, staring out to the sea. After a moment, he pulled his flute out of his pocket, and began to play the song that _she_ had sung for him, falling deep into his thoughts.

It had been three days since the disaster on the ship, and he still hadn't been able to find the girl who had rescued him. He really had looked everywhere he could, searching the town, the coast, even the woods in hope that he might cross paths with her, but it was all in vain. There was no way he could have missed her; her red hair was so vivid that Eric was sure it had to be impossible to walk past her without realising. But it wasn't her physical appearance that he remembered the most. In fact, when he did regain consciousness after she saved him, his mind had been so clouded that the image of her face had left his memory moments after she disappeared. He remembered that he was mesmorised by her beauty at the time, but to his regret, he somehow couldn't actually recall much of what she looked like. It was her voice that truly stuck in Eric's mind; that soft, melodious voice. He had never heard such a beautiful sound in his life.

Grimsby was insistent that there had been no girl, having seen or heard no one other than Eric when he and Max finally found him, let alone someone matching Eric's description. Carlotta was more encouraging, although she wasn't so fond of Eric leaving the palace so soon after such an incident. But Eric was undetered; just one day's rest had done him good enough, and even if it hadn't, he was determined to find that girl whatever it took. Not only because she had saved him, but because of what she had done afterwards. Staying with him until he gained consciousness, stroking his cheek, singing to him that she wanted to be with him. The fact that this was the first time Eric had ever seen her didn't matter to him at all. As he'd said to Grim, the feeling had hit him like lightning, and he just knew when he laid his eyes upon the girl that she was the one he was meant to spend his life with. There had to be a reason why this girl of all people had saved him. She had to feel something like he did if she had sung such a song for him. But where was she?

Eric stopped playing his flute and sighed, pushing himself away from the rock. Max, who had settled down next to Eric's feet a few minutes ago, bounded up and began to follow.

"That _voice_ ," Eric said aloud, as he began to wander along the beach, "I can't get it out of my head." He looked down at Max, who was looking at his master concernedly, almost as if he understood what he was saying. "I've looked everywhere, Max," the prince continued, as he knelt down to scratch the dog's ears, "Where could she be?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. Basically, this story will be about Eric's thoughts during his time with Ariel when she can't speak. I'm not too sure how long it will go on for, but right now I've got it planned up to their moment in the blue lagoon. This chapter is just a little starter; the following chapters will be longer and have more stuff going on, so basically, things will pick up from here and the story should get better. But how's it looking so far? Leave if comment if you've actually got something to comment on (I know there isn't much _to_ comment on so far). Any and all reviews, likes and follows are highly appreciated, and I'll see you all later, bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Eric looked back, and saw that the castle was farther away than he had thought. After speaking to Max, the two had started to make their way along the beach as Eric continued to muse silently about the young woman who had saved him. The prince had been so absorbed in thought that he hadn't realised how long he'd been walking for. They hadn't really walked too far away, but still farther Eric had intended, for which he knew Carlotta wouldn't be particularly pleased with him; she - and Grimsby for that matter - would probably assume that he had gone off looking for the girl.

With that thought, Eric stopped and looked up in front of him on the off chance that she happened to be ahead of him. Of course, she wasn't. Looking down again, Eric let out a low sigh and continued walking, his arms swinging loosely. "We should probably start heading back," he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Max raced ahead of him, barking loudly.

"Max?" said Eric, taken aback. The dog ran back to him, jumping up and down and shaking wildly; Eric would have been worried that there was something wrong if Max didn't seem so excited. "What... huh...?" the prince uttered, trying to understand.

In response, Max darted off again without turning back this time. "Max!" called Eric, hurrying after him. Why was he so lively all of a sudden? Sure, he normally was anyway, but just a few seconds ago, he had been padding along behind his master not making much of a sound other than his sniffing, and now he was making the biggest fuss possible over something Eric didn't know. As Eric continued after him, the dog disappeared around a corner, still barking like mad.

"Max!" shouted Eric again, "Max!" He came to a stop as he reached the corner where Max had left his view. From the side of his left eye, he could see Max bounding back towards him, still making a din. "Quiet, Max!" Eric chided gently, swaying about as he tried to calm the animal down. "What's gotten into you fella?" he asked, feeling rather amused at Max's antics, and looked up. "Oh! Oh, I see."

Ahead of him was a young woman sat on top of a rock, staring right at him. Max ran over to her, pleased as always to meet a potential new friend for himself and his master. Eric followed more slowly, as the girl suddenly moved from her still position and pulled her red hair over her shoulder. Thankfully, she didn't look at all afraid of or annoyed at Max; in fact, she was keeping her attention on Eric, as if she was pleased to see him. Perhaps she had been afraid of Max, and was pleased to find that his master was around to control him.

"Are you okay, miss?" Eric asked, as he picked up his pace a little and pulled Max to him to give him a brief scratch. "I'm sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He's harmless really..." Eric trailed off as he looked at the girl again. Her smile broadened, again as if she was pleased to see him, and there was something else that Eric noticed about her too. Something that filled him with a small ray of hope.

"You... seem very familiar to me," Eric told her. He pointed up to her at first, but quickly realised that she may not appreciate this, and quickly balled his fist, bringing it closer to his face. Thankfully, she didn't seem bothered at all, and kept her gaze on him. The more Eric looked at her smiling at him, the more hopeful he became. "Have we met?"

She nodded vigorously, giving Eric the confirmation that it was her for sure. Before he could say anything, Max jumped up between them, and Eric had an idea of why he was so excited now; he gently but quickly pushed the dog down and returned his focus to the girl in front of him. Max simply jumped back up and continued to bound around him as Eric continued to talk to her.

"We _have_ met. I knew it!" Eric raised his voice in excitement as he took the girl's hands; her smile told him that she was just as pleased as he; she _must_ know what he was talking about, there was surely no other possibility now. "You're the one! The one I've been looking for! What's your name?"

It seemed that the girl was about to speak, but as she moved her mouth, no name came out. Her smile dissolved into a frown, and she brought a hand to her throat as she sadly looked down. Eric's smile quickly began to disappear too.

"What's wrong?" he asked anxiously, pushing the still-energetic Max down once again. "What is it?"

The girl lifted her head and tapped her throat. "You can't speak?" asked Eric, as he took a hold of her arm that she had raised to her neck. She moved her head down again, and shook her head slowly. Eric's heart sank; this somehow wasn't her after all. "Oh...," he said quietly, and started to look away, "Oh... then you couldn't be who I thought."

But how? She looked just like the girl who had rescued him; so much so, that as he pictured the other girl in his head, it was this girl who he saw, as if he had totally regained his memory of the images that had escaped his mind and now he could remember them perfectly as they were at the time. He heard both Max and the young woman blowing at something, but was too disappointed and wrapped up in his thoughts to take a look at what.

All of a sudden, she waved her arm next to him, probably to catch his attention, and he looked up at her. "What-what is it?" he asked. She seemed to be trying to make gestures about something, one of them consisting of her looking up and raising her hand away from her face, but to his own dismay he couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. "You're hurt?" he guessed, to which she shook her head and parted her now lowered arms, "No, no... you need help?" She was now waving one of her arms up and down; perhaps something to do with the sea...?

She tried to move a bit closer to him, but suddenly slipped off the rock, flinging up her arms fearfully as she did so. "Woah, woah!" Eric called out as he quickly caught her; holding her around her waist, he helped lower her feet onto the ground, but this proved to be quite a challenge as her legs seemed oddly wobbly for some reason. "Careful! Careful, easy."

She looked into his eyes, her lips parted and her own eyes wide, as if something had scared her. It suddenly properly hit Eric that she was dressed in what appeared to be an old ship sail. He had noticed earlier, but he was so excited that he hadn't really taken it in. Whatever had happened to this poor girl? One of her hands was holding onto his neck, whilst the other was resting on his shoulder. Each hand slowly began to cling a little harder to what they were respectively holding onto, and Eric once again realised that he had become lost in his thoughts. He had to help this girl now, not just wonder about the unclear situation that she seemed to be in.

"Gee, you must have really been through something. Don't worry," he said softly, offering her what he hoped was an encouraging and comforting smile, and placed one arm around her shoulders. She in turn placed both of her hands on one of his own shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on," he continued as he led her away, glad that she clearly trusted him to help her, "Come on, you'll be okay."

After a few steps, the girl slowly took her hands off of Eric's shoulder and kept them spread out beside her a little bit, but her legs seemed to give way and she nearly fell down again. Eric continued to keep a hold of her to make sure that she didn't actually fall.

"Quiet, Max," Eric said a little more sternly to the barking sheepdog, who fortunately did agree to quieten down this time, even if he still kept running around quite a bit. This nonetheless allowed Eric to concentrate on trying to help the young woman.

What was wrong with her legs? Not only did she seem unsteady on them, she kept looking at them intently too, as if there was something unusual about them. Maybe they were causing her pain?

"Miss...?" he asked gently, she quickly looked up at him, seeming noticably happier. She couldn't be in that much pain then, but just in case, "Are your legs, or anything really, hurting you at all?"

She seemed to mouth "oh" as if she understood where he was coming from in thinking that, but shook her head and kept smiling at him. Eric gave a relieved nod, before returning his attention to the sail that she wore, and then how she had earlier gestured a wave to him a few moments ago.

"Was there... um... an accident out at sea or something?" he asked. She didn't answer immediately, and seemed to be considering her response. She finally made up her mind, and nodded slowly. Eric found her almost hesitant response quite strange, but knew it would be insensitive of him to dwell on such a topic, so accepted her answer. After all, it explained her sail, her wave gesture and her apparent disorientation.

"I live up there," Eric told the girl, having decided to change the subject to something a little more pleasant. "I'm the prince actually. And there's a lot of other people who live there too, and I'm sure they can help you." He hadn't been sure how to tell her that he was the prince, so he decided mention it casually; with any luck she already knew.

Thankfully, this looked to be the case, as she simply gave a polite nod of acknowledgement and thanks, not acting surprised at all.

"Are you from around this area then?" he asked her. She seemed to struggle to answer this, as if the response was neither yes nor no. "Kinda?" he suggested, and she nodded and pointed at him quickly as if that was the exact answer she wanted to give. "Do you know anyone who we can contact to help you?"

She shook her head at this slowly and sadly, after a brief pause. Eric couldn't even begin to imagine what she had been through. Did she have any friends or family? Had something happened to them in that 'accident' out at sea? Perhaps she really didn't know anyone.

Not wanting to risk upsetting or troubling her with any more questions, Eric held the girl a bit closer to him. "Don't worry," he said as kindly as he could, "We're nearly there now, and like I say, everyone in the castle will do their best to help you. And so will I." She smiled widely at him as he said this, before resting her head on his shoulder.

Eric knew she must be exhausted. He'd make sure the finest of the guest bedrooms was made up perfectly for her. He wanted his guest to feel as welcome as possible for however long she'd stay in the castle for.

As they approached the castle, it then came to Eric's mind that this meant he'd have to stop looking for the girl who saved him for a while. To his own surprise, he found that this didn't bother him too much; it just wouldn't be right of him to be thinking about her right now, anyone could understand that. He had a responsibility to help this girl now.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everyone, hope it's going well. Unfortunately, I'm back to school next week so I won't be able to pick up my already slow pace in writing, but I hope you're enjoying this story so far for what it's worth. Thank you all so much for the favourites, follows and reviews, I really appreciate them, and also thanks for being patient with my lack of new content recently. I'll see you all next time, bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

Eric and the girl finally arrived at the front doors of the castle. The prince noticed his new companion had been eyeing the palace all over as they climbed the stairs up to it. So much so that she had lost her footing quite a few times.

"So yeah," said Eric, "This is it."

The girl looked to him, oddly enough still smiling. Eric thought it was a little strange that she could be so happy after she'd seemingly been through so much, but that thought was getting to him probably less than it normally would.

The young woman really had this element about her, this quality. Eric wasn't quite sure what it was, maybe it was her outer beauty, maybe it was her overly friendly and pleasant behaviour, but there was something about her that he already liked a lot. Already, she was like no one he had ever met, but in a good way. He didn't really want to bring her inside, he just wanted to learn more about her. Perhaps it was just that, the state she was in. Something must have happened to her, but he had barely any idea what. He wanted to find out and help her in some way. Or do something; despite the circumstances, she wasn't really acting as if she necessarily wanted any help.

Regardless, he had to bring her inside. If anything she needed somewhere to stay and people to be with.

"I guess we ought to go in," said Eric, rather suddenly, fearing he might have just been staring at this girl for quite a while now. She herself seemed rather surprised by his abrupt suggestion. She looked up at the door and then back to him, shrugging and nodding her head a little. He heard the breath exiting her mouth; she almost laughed. It was a little nice. He hadn't made a joke or said something clever, but he had amused her in some respect, and he felt almost proud about that.

"Okay," he continued, "Let's go on in." He pushed the doors open, introducing his new guest to the interior of his home.

The entrance hall wasn't especially busy right now, but there were a few workers wandering about, who all looked up toward the two. It took Eric a moment to realise that the girl had shuffled behind him a little as she placed her hands on his back, and a moment more for him to figure out that she must be quite overwhelmed by where she was. She hadn't struck him as a shy person, but of course anyone would be a little nervous here.

"Okay, everyone, you can all keep going," Eric called out to his workers, "We just have a new guest, that's all." The workers did as they were told, thankfully joined by a now sobered up Max, who wandered away after one of them heading up some stairs, presumably to his room.

Now that the attention wasn't on them, Eric noticed the girl was more comfortable again. She pulled herself up and looked over his shoulder around the large, bustling room. "Alright," said Eric, looking back at her, "come with me, I know who can help you." They started off together, and, looking around rather enthusiatically, she followed him toward the kitchen to find Carlotta, whom Eric guessed would be in there.

Carlotta was indeed in the kitchen as Eric looked in; Louis thankfully wasn't in sight. Eric was glad of this as he didn't want his new quest witnessing Louis' over-energised behaviour so soon. "Carlotta," the prince called, as they entered the big room.

The maid looked up, "Hello, dear," she smiled before noticing the company he had brought in with him. "Oh my, who's this?" she asked, cheerfully hurrying over to meet the girl.

"Well, this is..." Eric felt bad that he didn't know her name. True, it wasn't his fault or anything, but it still felt pretty impolite to have to talk about her without addressing her by name, especially with her right next to him. "I... I don't know her name, she can't speak." He looked to the young woman with an apologetic look on his face, but she just smiled at him and put her hand on his arm, letting him know that it was alright. "I found her down on the beach," went on Eric, looking back up at Carlotta. "There was some sort of accident at sea."

"Oh dear," sighed Carlotta, "Well, whatever has happened to you, sweetie?" she asked the girl, turning her attention to what she was wearing, "Was there a... shipwreck or something of the sort?"

Again, it took a girl a moment to respond, but she ended up nodding her head yes.

"Oh good lord!" gasped Carlotta, eyes widening, "Is there anyone else out there?"

Eric somehow hadn't thought of this. There may very well be others out at sea in danger. But before he could think about this for too long, the girl quickly shook her head and waved her hands in front of her.

"Oh... no?" asked Carlotta, clearly relieved as Eric was, but also just as confused now. The girl pointed her finger at herself a few times.

"It was just you?" asked Eric, "You were sailing alone?" She nodded yes. Eric was rather surprised; not many people liked to sail by themselves.

"Well at least you're safe then, dear," Carlotta said to the young woman, coming closer to take her in her arms, "Don't worry, I'll take you upstairs and get you sorted out. You can have a nice warm bath, and then you must stay for dinner with us. Eric, you may want to explain to Louis what has happened, he should be back in a minute. I'll tell Grimsby when I see him."

"Okay, see you later, Carlotta," called Eric as the two women began to head off, "Goodbye, miss." The newcomer looked back at him and waved goodbye, keeping her smiling gaze at him until he was out of her eyeline.

Eric remained in the kitchen to wait for Louis. It would be nice, he thought, to have some company for a while other than Grimsby. Sure, he loved the older man but in recent months especially it had been tiring having him go on about ruling the kingdom and finding the right person to do it with. Carlotta joined them from time to time, but usually she wanted to get all her tasks done first before eating, and that generally meant she would eat after them. They rarely had guests, and if they did it was to do with reasons relating to ruling the kingdom again.

So it was a nice change to have someone so different. She had nothing to with politics or the council or anything of the kind. From the short time he had known her, she seemed very sweet and personable. It was only a shame she couldn't speak, so he couldn't do much more to help her. But then she seemed quite content to be here, and she didn't seem to have anywhere else to go. Perhaps she would be here for a while. Eric smiled at the thought. He hadn't known her for long at all, but he was pleased to have her as company, and the longer she wanted to stay or even needed to stay, the better.

Presently, Chef Louis arrived. "Ah! Bonjour, monsieur!" he exclaimed, "'Ow can I 'elp you?"

"Bonjour to you too, Louis," greeted Eric, "I just wanted to tell you that we have a guest tonight, so we're gonna need an extra dish for dinner."

"A guest! Oh, magnifique! No problem, sir. I will 'ave an extra plate fixed up just fine!"

"Thank you, Louis. Carlotta's upstairs helping her now, so she won't be able to give you a hand here."

"Oh, 'her' you say? So it is a girl, eh? Finally, sir!"

"No, Louis," said Eric, rolling his eyes, but still chuckling a little, "it's not like that, she just happens to be a female who needs a bit of help."

"Well, if you say so, monsieur," laughed Louis, "but as Grimsby says, you need to settle down soon. Perhaps this could be an opportunity, non?"

"I just met her, Louis," replied Eric, as he turned to go, "I'll see you later."

"Au revoir, sir," called Louis, and went about his work.

Eric shook his head as he climbed the stairs to go and check on Max. He thought about what he had said to Louis. It was true, he had just met the girl, but would that really matter? Sure, he'd want to get to know someone before marrying them, but that was the idea, wasn't it? You meet someone, you get to know them because you want to, and then it goes on from there. Heck, he hadn't even formally met the girl who saved him.

The girl who saved him!

Eric had forgotten about that girl since he'd brought this girl up to the castle. It had been his intention not to think about her, but it had been easier than he thought it would be. But it didn't feel right to forget her so easily. His new guest needed his help, and he was more than willing to give it to her, but the girl who saved him was the one he was supposed to be with, wasn't she? He was okay with halting his search for her, but to just forget her like that wasn't right... was it?

Eric shook his head and sighed. He had a lot to think about. He decided just to get ready for dinner now. After checking on Max, who was enjoying some play time in his room with a member of staff, Eric went into his own room's bathroom to wash up before eating. Once that was done, he headed over to the dinner hall, where he found Grimsby waiting for him.

"Ah, Eric, there you are."

"Hey, Grim."

Grimsby had a small satisfactory smile on his face. "I came across Carlotta with our new guest. She seemed very pleasant to me. Are we making progress, Eric?"

"Grim, come on," said Eric, groaning slightly, "She just needs some help, and I'm trying to give it to her. Anyway, you know I'm still waiting to find the girl who rescued me."

"Yes, Eric, I do know that you're waiting for her, and you know my thoughts about it."

"I don't see the big deal. She saved me once, why would she just do that, sing to me, and then just leave without meaning to see me again?"

"Eric..."

"I remember it, Grim. I wasn't imagining anything, it did happen. She has to be out there somewhere."

"Oh, Eric, be reasonable," scoffed Grimsby, "Nice young ladies just don't swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean, and then flitter off into oblivion like some-"

"I'm telling you, Grim; she was real!" replied Eric, "I'm gonna find that girl... and I'm gonna marry her." Perhaps this idea was a little too fast, but Eric stuck by what he had thought earlier: you get to know someone, and then you marry them. Of course, there's more to it than that, but that's the basic gist. Before Grimsby could reply, they heard Carlotta's voice.

"Oh, come on, honey," she was laughing, "Don't be shy." The girl was with her, hiding back in the shadows, but Eric could tell Carlotta had helped her dress up better. Still looking at her surroundings, the girl then looked straight at Eric as she exited the shadows, holding her hands together.

Eric was almost in shock at what at saw. The girl had looked very pretty before, but understandably, the ropes and rag hadn't really complimented her. Now he was seeing her in a light pink dress, with golden earrings, all cleaned up, with her red hair almost shining.

"Oh... Eric." said Grimsby, who had walked over next to him "Isn't she a vision?"

Eric was sure Grimsby was smiling smugly, but he was so taken with the sight right in front of him that he couldn't turn to find out. She was still looking at him intently, clearly wanting to hear what he thought of her.

"Uh..." he started, "You look wonderful." It was all he could get out, but there wasn't much else to be said even if he could manage it. Wonderful. That was how she looked. Simple as that.

It turned out to be enough for her. She dropped her head a little in silent laughter, then looked back up at him, beaming with joy, even if she was blushing a little.

"Come, come, come," spoke up Grimsby as he took her arms and led her toward her seat, "You must be famished."

She turned her head back to look at Eric as Grimsby did this, clearly still pleased with his praise on her appearance. Her eagerness to please Eric and her pride at doing so was really affecting the young prince, and, still smiling back at her, he followed she and Grimsby just in time to push in her seat once she had sat down. Grimsby had been chattering the whole time, but Eric hadn't really been listening properly, and he doubted the young lady had really been either.

"It's not often that we have such a lovely dinner guest, eh, Eric?" the prince heard Grimsby asking as they both sat down. But before Eric could reply something happened.

Once the girl had sat down, her attention had been torn away from Eric and towards her fork. Seemingly intrigued, she picked it up, looked at it with a smile that almost went up to her ears, and started happily brushing her hair with it.

Eric stared. The girl looked toward him and halted her actions, still smiling. He raised an eyebrow, rather unsure of what to say. The girl then looked over to Grimsby, whom Eric had to assume was looking just as befuddled as he himself was, but honestly he couldn't know for sure because he couldn't look away from their guest.

Finally, the girl looked back at the fork, her lips curled down and she quickly placed the fork back down on the table, looking quite embarrassed. Eric was finally able to look at Grimsby, and his suspicions of him being as baffled as he was were confirmed. Eric had no idea what had just happened or why. He could only assume that the girl had never seen a fork.

Grimsby shook his head and began to light his pipe, as Eric looked back to the girl. She still looked very upset, and Eric realised how little he wanted to see her frown. He was about to say something of comfort, but the girl heard Grimsby's match light and looked up a bit. Suddenly, she grew ecstatic again, which didn't go unnoticed by Grimsby.

"Uh, do you like it?" he asked as he passed his pipe over to her. She grabbed it gleefully, but didn't respond. "It is rather a fine-" Grimsby started, but before he could finish, the girl performed yet another very strange action.

She placed it in her mouth quickly. This didn't seem to be going anywhere really, Eric thought. She was doing what one is supposed to do with pipes, but before he could think any more, the girl took a deep breath and blew hard.

Smoke blew all over Grimsby, who thankfully had shut his eyes whilst talking about the pipe. He opened them slowly, as both Eric and Carlotta worked hard to refrain from bursting out into laughter. It only half worked; neither could hold it in completely.

Eric coughed to stop his laughing, hitting his chest with his fist. "S-sorry, Grim," he apologised, trying to look sympathetic, but knowing he was failing.

"My, Eric," sighed Carlotta, "That's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks."

Although smiling, Eric rolled his eyes; this of course was an exaggeration. However, he couldn't deny, he genuinely hadn't been this amused in a long time. From the corner of his eye, he could see the girl, who again had been quite embarrassed by her own actions, perk up a lot at this comment. So he had to give Carlotta's comment that, if nothing else.

"Oh yes," grumbled Grimsby, who was finishing dusting off his face with a handkerchief. "Very amusing." Eric worried for a moment that his comment might make their guest uncomfortable again, but thankfully Grimsby was willing to change the subject. "Ah, Carlotta, my dear? What's for dinner?"

"Ooh, you're gonna love it," replied Carlotta cheerfully, "Chef's been fixing his specialty: stuffed crab!"

"Ah yes. Lovely, lovely," replied Grimsby, as Carlotta went about setting the table. Just then, Eric heard a small scraping sound on the table and looked toward the young woman, who was slowly pushing the pipe back toward Grimsby. She was smiling a little nervously at the older British man, who was also looking at her.

Grimsby chuckled a little and reached for his pipe, "Thank you very much, my dear," he said gently, and placed the pipe down next to him, "I think that's enough smoking for one day."

The girl sat back more comfortably and looked at Eric, who was laughing a little at the situation. Fortunately, she seemed to feel in enough on the joke, and once she saw Eric laughing, she smiled proudly, content with how she had handled things.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from the other side of the wall. Carlotta, who had been laying out plates, looked up in confusion. "I think I better go see what Louis is up to," she said, placing her tray down, and hurried out of the room to get to the kitchen.

Eric watched her leave, and then looked back at the girl, who, once again, seemed rather worried about what was going on.

"Hey, don't worry," Eric told her, "Louis is just really into what he does, and sometimes that might cause a bit of a ruckus. No one's gonna be hurt or anything."

She relaxed once more and began to look around her, examining the inside of the room and then out of the window. She clearly admired it quite a lot, as if she hadn't seen anything like it before. Eric found this peculiar; the castle he could understand, but the girl said she was from around here, so this shouldn't be that new to her. But then again, he liked that about her; it was nice to see someone so appreciative of their surroundings, regardless of whether or not they were familiar with them. She herself was very pretty too, he had to admit. They'd been sat together for a few minutes now, yet he couldn't quite get over how she looked. And she seemed so humble about it too. Not fawning over her own appearance, she just happened to look very nice, and was pleased if others admired this about her, if a bit shy.

"...something in the way of a tour?"

Eric suddenly realised he had been staring at the young woman, and that Grimsby had been speaking. Something about taking the girl on a tour; now she was looking at him expectantly. Carlotta had even just returned with the dinner and the prince had only just noticed.

"Ha..." Eric laughed nervously, and took his head off of his hand to look back at his mentor, "I'm sorry, Grim. What was that?"

"You can't spend all your time moping about," said Grimsby, who had leant forward rather intensely, "You need to get out. Do something. Have a life! Get your mind-"

"Easy, Grim, easy!" replied Eric, "It's not a bad idea; if she's interested." He turned back to his guest, who was leaning calmly on her dish cover. "Well, what do you say?" he asked her, "Would you like to join me on a tour of my kingdom tomorrow?" She nodded eagerly.

"Wonderful!" laughed Grimsby, "Now let's eat before this crab wanders off my plate." But it was too late for that. As Grimsby dug his fork down to eat, the only sound made was the small clang of the silver fork hitting the dish. Eric and the girl looked up. "But... but I am sure I saw it here," said Grimsby, slowly, "Did anyone else see it?"

"Um, well, I don't know Grim," answered Eric, "I didn't look at your plate."

"Neither did I, I'm afraid," added Carlotta, "How about you, sweetie?" she asked the girl.

The girl shook her head, pointing at the plate, before crossing one hand over the other and flicking them apart.

"So... there was nothing there in the first place?" asked Eric.

The girl pointed at Eric and nodded yes, indicating that his guess was correct.

"Whatever next?" Grimsby exclaimed, "Chef's never done something like this! Forgetting the main course, how does one do that?"

"I don't know," Carlotta shook her head, "He was er... well, in one of his moods in there. Maybe he lost it," she chuckled, "He did seem to be looking for something."

As the two were talking, Eric noticed the young woman slowly peer beneath the dish dome and seemingly prod the crab, before looking down at her lap and putting the dome back down on the plate again. Then she looked up and gently tapped the top of the dome. Grimsby and Carlotta looked over to her, and she slowly pushed the plate toward Grimsby.

"Oh, no thank you, my dear," smiled Grimsby kindly, "That's yours, it wouldn't be right of me to take a guest's food away because of a mistake."

The girl shook her head and pushed the plate further toward him.

"Bless you, honey," sighed Carlotta, "But you need to eat, you must be starved after what you've been through."

The girl shrugged and shook her now tilted head, gesturing from the plate to Grimsby. Eric looked at her. This really was one exceedingly kind girl. She, the guest, was offering to give up her food. And after what had happened to her. Eric was sure he had never met anyone else so selfless before.

"Well... okay then, my dear," said Grimsby slowly, he himself clearly very taken aback by this young woman's offer, "If you insist, thank you very much." He pulled the plate over to himself.

"But you ought to go to the kitchen," suggested Eric quickly, "Just find a little something you could eat."

"Oh yes, you must," agreed Carlotta, "come along, deary, I'll take you into the kitchen. There must be something in there for you."

The young woman got up and followed Carlotta to the kitchen, briefly looking back at Eric as she did.

"See you in a minute," called the prince. She smiled at him and waved.

"Now you see, Eric," grinned Grimsby, "We're finally getting somewhere. Just spend some time with this young lady. Some companionship will do you the world of good, and her too I'm sure."

Eric couldn't deny, he was looking forward to tomorrow. His guest had already proved herself to be a complete delight, and was pleased to be showing her the town tomorrow. "Yeah," he agreed, "It will be good."

Soon enough, Carlotta returned with the girl, who was carrying a whole loaf of bread.

"I don't think she's had it before," called Carlotta, "I said she can try as much as she likes."

"You've never had bread?" asked Eric. Wasn't bread one of the most common foods? It seemed very odd to never have had any.

The girl shook her head no, before picking up her new fork and plunging it into the loaf. It stuck there, as she gently lifted it up, with the whole loaf on the end of it. Before Eric could correct her on what she was doing wrong, she seemed to figure it out herself as she noticed the knife. She pushed the bread off the fork, and then held both pieces of cutlery up to her audience to make sure she had the right idea.

"Yeah, that's it," smiled Eric. This was very strange, but he was starting to enjoy it. He didn't know how this young lady could not know how to do something as simple as this, but she was clearly very determined to do it, and he found it genuinely admirable.

She pushed the fork into one end of the bread, with the knife right behind it, and started cutting. Once she finished, she picked the slice of bread up and started eating.

"How is it?" asked Eric, "Nice?" She nodded at him.

"Oh, good," beamed Carlotta, "Well, you help yourself then, my dear. Not too much, though, of course."

It turned out to be a very pleasant evening. The girl didn't eat too much bread, finishing just before Eric and Grimsby finished their crab. It was a quiet meal, but Eric enjoyed it a lot. Merely being in the company of this girl made for a nice experience.

"Now, then," said Grimsby, once he had finished, "I'd better be off. Final duties of the day to attend to. I shall see you all later. I hope you enjoy your stay with us, miss."

The girl smiled at him and gave a small, polite nod of appreciation.

"Good evening all," finished Grimsby, and made his way out of the hall. Carlotta had already taken the bread back to the kitchen, and was now collecting the plates and cutlery.

"I'll be back in a moment," she smiled, as she headed into the kitchen. Eric was now alone with the girl for the first time since they'd entered the palace.

"So... looking forward to tomorrow?" he asked her. She nodded happily. "Good," he continued, "So am I."

She was very pleased to hear this, but he could tell she wanted to say something. Of course, since she couldn't, he decided to continue their conversation.

"It's quite nice there," he told her, "I haven't been in a while. I don't really get out that often, and if I do, I usually just go down to the beach, so it'll be nice. And I haven't been there with someone else in... well, I don't know."

He wasn't really saying anything interesting, or at least he didn't think so, but she seemed very glad to listen. Nonetheless, when Carlotta arrived back quickly, he felt a little relieved. Sure, he was still managing to enjoy the young woman's company, as she clearly was his, but having very little to say was a bit of an issue here.

"I thought I'd show you your room, honey," Carlotta said to the girl, "Don't worry, it's one of the best we have. And then I'll help you get ready for bed; it'll be dark soon, and you'll want to get up early tomorrow."

As the girl stood up, Eric did too. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow," he said to her, "I hope you have a good night. You can stay as long as you need," he told her. She kept on smiling at him, going beyond just doing it to be polite, what he was saying was clearly just making her very happy.

"So, yeah," said Eric, smiling back at her, "I'll see you later." The girl slowly raised her arms, and Eric wondered what she was doing at first. "Oh," he softly laughed once he realised, "Oh, okay." He stepped closer and leant down a little, giving her a gentle hug. She held him a little tighter, holding her head to his chest. It was a nice feel; in the space of a day, he felt like he'd gained a great companion. Someone who liked him and who he really was, instead of one of those pompous, stuck-up, selfish people who wanted to be able to say "I've met the prince" or "I hugged the prince" or something like that.

She eventually let go, and Eric set off, "Goodnight," he said to both women.

"Goodnight, darling," replied Carlotta, as the younger woman waved.

Eric found himself smiling even as he left to find Max. He hadn't even known this girl for a day, but already he really liked her. Sure, she was a bit, for a lack of a nicer word, "odd", but he even found that element of her endearing. There was plenty to like about this girl, going far beyond her simply being some new form of company. He was very glad that it was a person like her who _was_ this company. He'd never met anyone like her before, and honestly, he doubted there was anyone out there quite like her. He'd just gotten lucky.

And now Eric couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everybody, same old, same old, I'm afraid, in regards to how long this story is taking. But it's Christmas time and I wanted to get something out for you all. I'm not really one for Christmas personally, but it _is_ that time of year where you give that little bit extra and I really wanted to do that for you all. I know not much goes on in this chapter, despite it ironically being the longest document I've written so far (which is kinda why I left out the bit with Ariel watching Eric and Max from the balcony), but it's necessary, and I quite like it. And of course, I hope you all do too. Again, I know it's not the most substantial thing ever, but I really hope you are enjoying this. Thank you all so much for the favourites, follows and reviews; even if I don't respond, please know I really appreciate them. I know I keep saying this, but it bears repeating.**

 **So yeah, thank you all for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Have a good day, and I'll see you all next time. Bye!**


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